Apparatus and process for continuously heat treating wire and the like



Oct. 27, 1964 M. A. NYE ETAL 3,154,443

APPARATUS AND PROCESS FOR CONTINUOUSLY HEAT TREATING WIRE AND THE LIKEFiled May 19, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG 2 will '1 FIG 3 FIG I INVENTORSMAURICE A. NYE 8 JESS C. BITTMAN ATTORNEYS Oct. 27, 1964 NYE T 3,154,443

APPARATUS AND PROCESS FOR CONTINUOUSLY HEAT TREATING WIRE AND THE LIKEFiled May 19, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS MAURICE A. NYE 8 E58CBHTMAN ma 1; Domwlly ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,154,443 APPARATUSAND PROCESS FOR CDUOUSLY HEAT TREATTNG WIRE AND THE LKKE Maurice A. Nyeand Jess C. Bittrnan, Cuyahoga Falis, Ohio, assignors to The VaughnMachinery Company,

Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, a corporation of Qhio Filed May 19, 1961, Ser. No.111,245

9 Claims. (Cl. 148-444) This invention relates to the continuouspatenting and treating of steel wire and, more particularly, to a novelapparatus and method for the accomplishment thereof.

Patenting is defined in the art as a heat treatment applied to steelwires and rods having a carbon content of 0.25 percent and higher toobtain a sorbitic structure having high tensile strength, ductility andthe ability to withstand hard drafting. Paten-ting is generallyconducted as a continuous process and consists in first heating thematerial considerably above its critical temperature, then coolingthrough the critical temperature at a comparatively rapid rate. Thecooling step may be conducted in open air or by immersion of the wireinto a lead bath. The lead bath method has been generally preferred inthe art for the reason that it is easier to control and thereby toproduce definite grain structures in the material. Further, the leadbath cooling method results in less scale being produced on the wire.Under certain circumstances the lead bath cooling method may not bedesired.

Conventional patenting methods are generally continuous only during theheating and cooling steps, whereas any subsequent treatment of the wiresuch as cleaning, coating and coiling may be separately conducted thusbreaking up the continuity of the whole wire treating operation.Further, in conventional patenting the wire is fed at a relatively lowlineal speed (e.g., about 40 feet per minute) which fails to keep upwith other processing at high speeds (e.g., about 600 feet or more perminute). This necessitates either a plurality of patenting equipment oruse of numerous supply coils, spoolers, etc., resulting in pooruniformity of the wire.

It is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus and method forthe continuous patenting and treatment of steel wire at high speeds.

Another object is to provide such an apparatus and method wherein theentire operation may be conducted in a minimum amount of space,materially reducing the amount of equipment required.

A further object is to provide such an apparatus and method wherein thepatenting of the wire is conducted in combination with the subsequentsteps of cleaning, coating, drying and coiling all as part of onecontinuous high-speed operation.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention,then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims, the following description andthe annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrativeembodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but afew of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may beemployed.

In said annexed drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of the apparatus of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevation view, partly in section, of a part ofthe apparatus of this invention in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the lead bath of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

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FIG. 4 is an elevation view, partly in section, of another embodiment ofthis invention; and

FIG. 5 is an elevation view, partly in section, of yet anotherembodiment of this invention.

This invention constitutes an improvement over that described in the US.application of Nye et al., Serial No. 111,244, filed May 19, 1961.

In reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the wire W to be treated is removedfrom coils 1 which are shown mounted on racks 2. To facilitate wireremoval these racks 2 preferably have a tilted base and a bar 3 in theposition shown to efiect removal of the wire one convolution at a time.The wire is only taken from one coil, but to aid in continuity ofoperation another stand-by coil may be mounted on an identical rack nextto rack 2 and the leading end of the stand-by coil connected as bywelding to the trailing end of the wire from coil 1. The wire W is thentensioned by running it through a series of pinch rolls 4. If the wirehas any undesirable scale thereon, this may be removed by scale romovalmeans (not shown) comprising, as well known in the art, a series ofsmall diameter rolls over which the wire is sharply curved to break thescale. If desired, a die block may be disposed adjacent to the scaleremoval means.

After the wire W is run through the series of pinch rolls 4 to providetensioning (or through the aforesaid scale removal means and/ or dieblock) it may then be wound on a rotary storage block 5 which has apush-up flange 6 and is rotated by suitable drive means in the base 7.The wire is introduced tangentially along the flange 6 and is wound onthe block 5 and may be continuously removed therefrom over the sheave 8which is mounted on overhead arm 9.

The wire W is then guided over sheave 10 and wound on rotating take-upblock 11 along a push-up flange 12 located at the base of the blockwhich has suitable drive means to effect rotation thereof. The action ofthe push-up flange 12 is to continuously, helically advance a coil ofwire upward along the block 11 and into a nonrotating furnace 13 whichis a dome-shaped structure surrounding the upper end of the block. Theinterior of the furnace 13 is equipped with suitable heating means,e.g., burners, electrical heating coils, or any other suitable heatingdevice known to those skilled in the art. A block and furnace assemblysuitable for use herein is disclosed in the US. application of Nye etal., Serial No. 55,651, filed September 13, 1960. As the wire helicallyadvances along the block 11 into the furnace 13, heat is con-tinuouslyand uniformly applied to the wire at a temperature substantially aboveits critical point, e.g., about 1750" F. This structure permits a highlineal speed of the wire (about 1000 feet per minute) while enablingaccurate and adequate heat treatment of the wire in a relatively smallvolume of space.

The furnace 13 is provided with an opening 14 in its side through whichthe wire is removed tangentially from the block 11. The wire is thenguided around sheaves 15 and 16 and introduced tangentially onto thedownward push flange 17 of rotating block 18 which is immersed in amolten lead cooling bath 19. The wire continuously, helically advancesdown along block 18 through the molten lead cooling medium which reducesthe temperature of the wire to, for example, about 1000 F. The rotatingblock 18 has a rotary drive means within the housing 19A. The housing issupported outside the bath 19 by hydraulic cylinder 193 which is capableof raising the block out of the bath. Thus, rotation of the block (andresulting cooling of the wire) in ambient air is possible if desired.The arrangement shown permits lead bath cooling without any sheavesbeing immersed in the lead. The wire is tangentially removed from thebottom of block 18 and directed around sheaves 20 and 21 and introducedthrough water cooling bath 22 where the wire temperature is furtherreduced. The water cooling bath may be suitably mounted and areplenishing water supply may be supplied by any suitable means known inthe art.

The wire is withdrawn continuously from the Water bath 22 and runthrough ambient air for some distance; at the wire temperature existingat this location, any water remaining on the wire will evaporate. Thewire is then run around sheave 23 and introduced into a wire cleaningchamber 24. The chamber 24 contains means for directing abrasiveparticles at high velocity at the wire 1 as it is passed between sheaves25 within the chamber 24. In the drawing, this is exemplified bycentrifugal wheel 26 which has a feeding means 27 located thereon tointroduce a supply of abrasive particles to the center of the wheel. Theparticles are thrown down by the centrifugal force of the vanes situatedradially along the wheel 26. A particularly suitable device foraccomplishing this result is a Wheelabrator, manufactured by theAmerican Wheelabrator and Equipment Corporation, Mishawaka, Indiana. Adetailed description of such devices is contained in the book ShotPeening, 4th edition, published in 1951 by the aforenamed company. Thewire may be passed between the sheaves 25 as often as necessary toaccomplish a thorough cleaning thereof. This cleaning chamber 24eliminates the need for chemical or solvent cleaning tanks withsubsequent neutralization, drying, etc., while providing for thoroughcleaning of Wire moving at high speeds, e.g., 1000 feet per minute, in arelatively small volume of space. More than one such cleaning chambermay be used if necesary.

The cleaned wire leaving chamber 24 is then run around sheave 28 mountedon top of the furnace 13 and introduced down through an opening 29therein. The wire then runs down through the hollow center of block 11.The block 11 has a hollow drive shaft 30 which extends axiallydownwardly from the block 11. The shaft 30 has keyed thereon an arm 31extending outwardly therefrom having a sheave 32 at its extremity and asheave 33 set in a radial slot in the shaft 30. The end of shaft 30 isjournaled in the end of a stationary block 34 having a push-flange 35thereon. The wire W is guided through the interior of shaft 30, out andover sheaves 33 and 32 and as the arm 31 rotates, it acts to wind thewire W on block 34 along the push-flange 35. This continuously producesan advancing helical coil of wire 36. A suitable winding device andassembly showing the appropriate engagement between the shaft 30 and thestationary block 34 is shown in the US applications of Nye, Serial No.67,350, filed November 4, 1960, now Patent No. 3,049,315, and Nye eta1., Serial No. 75,965, filed December 15, 1960, now Patent No.3,097,812. The block 34 has coil guide members 37 which curvedownwardly, then horizontally, and downwardly over which the successivecoils 36 are advanced.

Along the horizontal portion, a coating means 38 is situated to effect acontinuous protective and lubricating coating of the coil 36 with'borax, lime, or the like. This may be done by spray nozzles 39 or othersuitable means known to those skilled in the art. After the coatingmeans 38, a dryer 40 is provided to dry the coating applied. This may beany suitable known type of dryer, e.g., hot air, electrical coils, etc.The coils then move downwardly where they are collected on a suitablereceptacle 41. If desired, a conveyor 42 may be located along the top ofthe horizontal portion of the guide members 37 to elfect a slightseparation of the convolutions to provide better coating and drying.This may be in the form of an endless belt or chain as shown engagingthe coils from the inside.

The operation in FIG. 4 is similar to that in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 andsimilar reference numerals have been used wherever possible; only thedistinctions between the two will be discussed. In FIG. 4, the wire W issupplied and 4 tensioned as in FIG. 1 (reference numerals 1-9) and issupplied over sheave 10 to the rotating take-up block 11 which ismounted horizontally. The furnace 13 is also mounted horizontally aroundthe extremity of block 11 and is not dome-shaped. The lead and waterbath assemblies are the same as is the cleaning chamber 24. As the wireemerges from the chamber 24, it is introduced through the hollow end ofblock 11, to the coil winding assembly which is the same as in FIG. 1except that it is mounted horizontally. The coating means, drying meansand receptacle are the same.

FIG. 5 depicts an embodiment of the invention wherein the tensioningmeans 4 and storage block 5 have been omitted. The lead bath 19 andwater bath 22 have been replaced by an air cooling operation composed ofa pair of sheaves 50 around which long loops of wire W are festooned inambient air to effect cooling. The air cooled wire is then wound intocoils 36 as in FIG. 1 except that no cleaning, coating or drying isconducted. Movable collector arms may be provided at the base ofstationary block 34 on which the coils 36 may be collected whilereceptacle 41 is changed. FIG. 5 depicts another optional modificationin the arrangement of the coils 1 which are the source of wire for thepatenting operation. In this modification the coil 1 from which wire isremoved for patenting is mounted vertically and the wire is drawn offupwardly and over sheave 52. The coils 1 are mounted on stands 53 whichhave hydraulic cylinders 54 to raise and lower the stands for thepurpose of placing new coils thereon. A suitable arrangement isdisclosed in the US. application of Bittman, Serial No. 111,375, filedMay 19, 1961, now Patent No. 3,082,973.

One of the advantages of this invention is that the same drive shaft 30is used both for the rotating block within the furnace as well as therotary winding mechanism. Further, since these two operations areconducted on adjacently connected devices a great saving of space isrealized which is highly important in factories where work space is at apremium. It is most advantageous that these meritorious features arerealized in a novel operation which provides for uniform and continuoustreatment of steel wire.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed,change being made as regards the details described, provided thefeatures stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of suchbe employed.

We therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as ourinvention:

7 1. An apparatus for the continuous patenting of steel wire whichcomprises in combination a furnace, a rotary take-up block in saidfurnace adapted to continuously, helically advance a coil of wirethrough said furnace for heating thereof, continuous cooling means adacent said furnace adapted to decrease the temperature of the wire afteremergence from said furnace, said rotary takeup block having coaxiallyattached thereto a tubular dr ve shaft therefor for continuous passageof the cooled wire therethrough, said shaft having winding meansthereon, a stationary take-up block secured to said shaft for wrappingof wire thereabout by said winding means, and receiving means adjacentsaid stationary take-up block adapted to receive coils of wire from saidstatlonary block.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein sald cooling meanscomprises a pair of widely spaced sheaves between which a plurality ofconvolutions of said wire are run at high speed in contact with ambientair.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cooling meanscomprises a rotary drum around which the wire passes as it emerges fromsaid furnace, and a molten bath in which said drum is immersed.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said winding meanscomprises an arm extending outwardly from said shaft, said arm having asheave at its outer end around which the wire passes as it is Wound ontosaid stationary block.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cooling meanscomprises a rotary drum around which the wire passes as it emerges fromsaid furnace, and a molten bath in which said drum is immersed, saiddrum having support means mounted on a pivot outside said bath and meansfor swinging said support means about said pivot to raise said drum outof said bath.

6. An apparatus for the continuous patenting and treatent of steel wirewhich comprises in combination a furnace, a rotary take-up block in saidfurnace and a tubular drive shaft therefor adapted to continuously,helically advance a coil of wire through said furnace for heatingthereof, continuous cooling means adjacent said furnace adapted todecrease the temperature of the wire after emergence from said furnace,cleaning means adjacent said cooling means, said cooling means beingdisposed between said furnace and said cleaning means, said cleaningmeans comprising enclosures wherein abrasive material is directed at thewire as it is continuously moved therethrough, said shaft having windingmeans thereon, a stationary take-up block secured to said shaft forwrapping of the cleaned wire passing through said shaft and over saidwinding means around said stationary block, coating means adjacent saidstationary block adapted to continuously provide the coils of wire fromsaid stationary block with a protective coating, drying means adjacentsaid coating means, said coating means being disposed between saidstationary block and said drying means, said drying means beingeffective to continuously dry said coating, and receiving means adjacentsaid drying means adapted to receive the coated coils of wire as theycontinuously emerge from said drying means.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said winding meanscomprises an arm extending outwardly from said shaft, said arm having asheave at its outer end around which the Wire is run for winding ontosaid stationary block.

8. A process for the continuous patenting and treatment of steel wirewhich comprises the following steps in sequence: continuously rotatingand advancing said wire helically forming coils thereof while applying asource of heat thereto, cooling said wire by continuously immersing theWire into a molten bath, continuously cleaning said wire by directingfree abrasive particles at the surface of said wire, conducting thecleaned wire through the rotating coils, winding said wire intosuccessive non-rotating convolutions, continuously coating theconvolutions of wire as they are advanced axially, and continuouslydrying the convolutions of coated wire.

9. A process for the continuous patenting and treatment of steel wirewhich comprises the following steps in sequence: continuously rotatingand advancing said wire to form coils thereof while applying a source ofheat thereto, continuously cooling said wire, conducting the cooled wirethrough the rotating coils, and winding the wire into successivenon-rotating convolutions, and collecting the wire convolutions in theform of an upwardly growing package.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,045,392 Kientz June 23, 1936 2,196,600 Wean et al. Apr. 9, 19402,701,716 Erhardt Feb. 8, 1955 2,932,502 Rudd et al Apr. 12, 1960FOREIGN PATENTS 811,613 Great Britain Apr. 8, 1959 OTHER REFERENCESPomp: Steel Wire, 2nd ed. pages 43 and 205, published by The WireIndustry Ltd., 33 Furnival St, London.

1. AN APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS PATENTING OF STEEL WIRE WHICHCOMPRISES IN COMBINATION A FURNACE, A ROTARY TAKE-UP BLOCK IN SAIDFURNACE ADATED TO CONTINUOUSLY, HELICALLY ADVANCE A COIL OF WIRE THROUGHSAID FURNACE FOR HEATING THEREOF, CONTINUOUS COOLING MEANS ADJACENT SAIDFURNACE ADAPTED TO DECREASE THE TEMPERATURE OF THE WIRE AFTER EMERGENCEFROM SAID FURNACE, SAID ROTARY TAKE-UP BLOCK HAVING COAXIALLY ATTACHEDTHERETO A TUBULAR DRIVE SHAFT THEREFOR FOR CONTINUOUS PASSAGE OF THECOOLED WIRE THERETHROUGH, SAID SHAFT HAVING WINDING MEANS THEREON, ASTATIONARY TAKE-UP BLOCK SECURE TO SAID SHAFT FOR WRAPPING OF WIRETHEREABOUT BY SAID WINDING MEANS, AND RECEIVING MEANS ADJACENT SAIDSTATIONARY TAKE-UP BLOCK ADAPTED TO RECEIVE COILS OF WIRE FROM SAIDSTATIONARY BLOCK.